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Thursday, May 17, 2012

Spaghetti Pie

It’s been a great week for running…great weather and better nights of sleep, which means greater motivation and greater amounts of sweat because I can run harder!! Next week will probably be another story…I’m good at coming up with excuses!

All in all though, I’ve come to enjoy it more and more and try to remember how good I feel after the fact! The hubs and princesses blessed me with a new running watch for Mother’s Day so now I can keep track of my distance and time. Just this week I discovered that I have shaved off about 3 1/2 minutes from my 5K time in March! It’s not much, but it helps with the motivation factor…

Speaking of motivation, I’ve needed a little in the cooking department this week. The princesses are big fans of a good ol’ bowl of mom’s spaghetti, but I just wasn’t feeling it this week. I needed something a little different, so I decided to put a little “spin”, if you will, on a quick and easy dish we all love.

Cook the spaghetti al dente according to the package directions (omit any salt). Rinse well under cold water and drain. Return to the cooking pot.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet for about a minute. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add to the spaghetti along with the parsley, lemon juice, 1 tsp of oregano, 1/2 tsp of basil and pepper. Toss well.

In a small bowl, combine the cottage cheese, egg white, 2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, and the remaining 1/2 tsp oregano and 1/2 tsp basil. Add the cheese mixture to the spaghetti and toss well. Spoon half of the spaghetti mixture into the prepared baking dish and press lightly over the bottom. Arrange half of the tomato slices on top and sprinkle with 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat the layers. Sprinkle the remaining 2 Tbsp of Parmesan cheese on top.

Cover with foil and bake 55 minutes or until set. Remove the foil and bake 5 minutes longer. Cool 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Enjoy with a warm piece of garlic bread!

Someday I’ll get motivated to make my own gluten free garlic breadsticks, but for now the hubs and princesses love Trader Joe’s sourdough baguettes with a little butter and fresh garlic. To be honest, since having gone gluten free I actually haven’t been craving breads like I used to and I think it’s because gluten free bread isn’t as readily available.And I’m too lazy to make my own!

Got the hubs to balance out his carbs with a few greens! And for someone who isn’t a fan of tomatoes, he had nothing but rave revues.

Do you ever find yourself putting a little “spin” on some of your favorite family meals?